Hollywood Knits Style

Rating:
Summary: save your money
Review: Even though I wasn't impressed with her first book, I decided to give this one a shot. Please don't repeat my mistake. Granted, I thought this one was more enjoyable, and I like that she tried to incorporate the new trend of "the knitting lifestyle" -- giving party and such ideas focused on knitting. But the ideas range from trite to ridiculous. I mean, there is this one article where she is suggesting places to take your knitting group, so that you're not stuck at one person's house all the time. By the end of the list, she is definitely stretching it-- I mean, sports events like baseball?

Another problem I have with this is that yes, the patterns are all done using her yarns, but she doesn't give yarn substitutes or just tell you the yarn thicknesses. Yes, you can look at the gauge and figure it out, but this doesn't quite work when the yarn is double stranded or if the resulting fabric is supposed to be loosely knit (done on larger needles). And you can't just look it up online because some of the yarns on her website don't even have gauge information.

All in all, do not buy this book! I suggest Melanie Falick's Weekend Knitting or one of the Debbie Stoller books instead.

Rating:
Summary: Oh So Disappointed
Review: I bought this book and dutifully knitted away my first poncho. Praising this book to all my fellow knitters. I decided to start on my next project but needing a couple of supplies I refered to www.sussdesign.com only to find FOUR pages of errors regarding the printing of the book. I am half way through another Suss project and come to find out there was a little misprint. She left out a major detail. You will find that you need to print out the additional information and use it along with the book if you intend on knitting any successful project from this book. The designs are great- just make sure to keep the cheat sheet with you at all times!

Rating:
Summary: not even for free
Review: I checked this book out from my local library and began to flip through it. By the time I got to the front door, I realized that I did not even want to take it home. The name-dropping of celebrities is annoying enough, but anyone who thinks that a woman with a 32-inch bust is "large" has been in Hollywood way too long. None of the patterns is unique enough to put up with all the alterations needed to fit a normal person.

Rating:
Summary: not bad, but not very impressed
Review: I have mixed feelings about this purchase. Some of the designs are very cute and look like they will be fun to complete; however, most of the patterns look identical to ones in knitting books I already own. In other words, not a lot of new material here. The sizing of the patterns is also disappointing. Many of the knitwear designs look like they would be well-suited to larger figures, but the sizing of the patterns does not allow for this.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic! Suss Inspires your Creativity!
Review: I just wanted to take a moment to write and say how much I have enjoyed the book, Hollywood Knits Style. I am a fairly new knitter (about 6 months) I actually learned to knit just before I left Los Angeles. Having moved back to North Carolina (very small town, Highlands) I have just let the knitting bug take me over. I can't stop myself. In fact sometimes my boyfriend will say "Caroline, can you put it down for a bit."

I have enjoyed making many of the patterns in the book, esp, the purses, bags, and Ponchos. I have been in the fashion/retail industry for over 14 years, and am actually starting to sell/consign some of my items in local shops. Really exciting!

I'm on my way back to LA for the month of February, and look forward to checking out your store, and hopefully taking some classes.

Just wanted to let you know that you, and your book have inspired me. Both with my knitting, and seeing where you have taken your knitting business gives me energy to go on.

Thanks!
Caroline Brown

Rating:
Summary: Hollywood Knits Style--Loved It!
Review: I love Hollywood Knits Style, even enjoying it much more then the first one. Her clever creativity and the fearlessness of combining textures and colors--not to mention her detailing--is very inspiring and you don't see it in other knitting books. Her women's sweaters are very feminine and body flattering. I have already ordered yarn from her website and can't wait to receive it and start knitting.
I also liked the fact that Suss shared her favorite recepies with the reader. That takes me back to my childhood memories of my mom, who was always either knitting or cooking. My only concern with the recepies in the book is that the picture could have been bigger.

Rating:
Summary: Nice Designs but Poorly Written
Review: Suss is a knitwear designer from Sweden who now lives in LA and runs a shop in Hollywood. I have been to the shop, and it was nice, but not a welcoming atmosphere with very little assistance. That basically describes this book: extremely unhelpful.

For one, she uses many over simplified designs, which is aggrevating especially since a lot of her knitwear that she sells is more complex. Like many other knitters have said, she uses a lot of flat knitting, which can require bulky seaming. Furthermore, if you look at her designs she sells, she has a lot more unique ponchos and stuff. When I bounght this book I expected some neat ponchos, but only found one.

AND THE WORST PART IS THE ERRORS. BEWARE!!!!!!!!!! On her website is about 3 pages of errors in the book. This is appaling since most knitting magazines that release 4 issues a year have less errors. Extremely unprofessional.

Overall, nice designs, which is why I didn't give it 1 star. However, the frustration with knitting with this book far outweighs the nice designs. I am also very dissapointed that she did not make improvements from the first book. This is a fun book for experienced and higher level knitters (especially if bought used), but NOT for beginners.

Rating:
Summary: great designs again, same problems
Review: Suss's first book Hollywood Knits had some of the best designs I'd ever seen, this new book is no different. great patterns that seem very modern and arty and now she added recipes and knitting group ideas. Obviously she is inspired by the stitch n bitch craze and melanie falick's excellent book "weekend knitting". my favorite patterns are the bags, the sweater with the clever zippers, the blankets and the cute dachshund sweaters. However,

This book suffers from the same problems as before, there is a lot of name dropping, which I didn't mind and even enjoy but many others were annoyed with. She is still knitting things flat instead of in the round which may frustrate experienced knitters. Her sizes are still tiny even for the dogs. She almost always uses her own yarn line and accessories which you can only get from her store and this time does not offer alternatives.


I gave this 4 stars because I love the designs and that is the only reason I buy her books. Her use of color and clever shapes is very original and I can always incorporate her ideas into my knitting

Rating:
Summary: So Original!
Review: This book is wonderful. I thought the first was was great, but this book is even better. Thank you suss for your orginality and keeping knitters current!